


After The Rain

by Smart_heart



Series: Between the pages [2]
Category: Hilda (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Mutual Pining, have these two lovely idiots, here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-06
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:01:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21692695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smart_heart/pseuds/Smart_heart
Summary: From an anonymous prompt on tumblr: Maybe just sommat fluffy? Maven's has a bad day at work for whatever reason and Johanna's there to cheer her up in the evening with hot chocolate & cuddles?
Relationships: Johanna | Hilda's Mum/The Librarian (Hilda)
Series: Between the pages [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1180034
Comments: 11
Kudos: 59





	After The Rain

“UGH!” The Librarian groaned as she threw herself on the bench that had been strategically positioned under a tree. She was soaked to the bone from running in the storm, and just when she arrived shelter, it had stopped raining. Fantastic. Just what she needed after a long day. 

Maven did love her job at the library. Books had always been her passion, and to work with them was a blessing. But that didn’t stop her from hating the days when the teachers from Trollberg’s primary school decided they should make a field trip to her workplace to “teach children about the value of reading.” 

If they insisted on doing so, they should at least watch over the little goblins, instead of leaving all the mess and annoying questions for the librarian. That, added to the fact the her favorite amethyst necklace had broken in the morning, and that her walk from the library to her house had been interrupted by the rain, had gotten her in a mood so bad she was ready to curse the first person who tried to talk to her.

“Are you okay?” Maven turned her head abruptly to the sweet voice that had talked to her. Even if the rain had stopped, the fog still lingered, and she hadn’t realized that she had company until that moment. Once her eyes could focus on the face in front of her, she instantly recognized the woman. 

They had officially met a few weeks ago, on a coffee shop that both of them enjoyed, and had occasionally seen each other on the streets every now and then. Johanna was a very sweet woman, and seeing her had definitely made Maven’s readiness to curse someone dissipate.

“Sorry, I hadn’t seen you there.” Maven apologized as she tried to squeeze the water from her cape.

“You didn’t answer my question.” 

Maven groaned as she realized that the cape was unsalvageable. It would only make her colder, so she pushed at the clasp and made it fall down her shoulders. Her cardigan was another wet mess, and she pushed it over her head, only the white button up shirt remaining.

“What did you say?” She asked, turning back to Johanna. The woman seemed to have been staring at her, and blushed pretty when she was caught. 

“I- ugh… wear this.” Lacking words and still with her face burning, she quickly took out the black leather jacket she had been wearing. She had two other layers, so she wouldn’t miss it, but the librarian looked pretty- cold. The librarian looked pretty cold, and she didn’t want the woman to catch a disease.

“Why, thank you.” Maven accepted the jacket. It was soft from how often it had been worn, and tasted like cherry and apples from Johanna’s perfume. “I would never have guessed you’d be the kind of person to like leather.”

“I’m actually not.” She chuckled as Maven put her garment on. “The mood just struck me today. But I hadn’t worn it in years!”

And she was glad she had left the house with it, she added silently. Maven looked very good in it.

“I’ll give it back to you as soon as I can.”

“No worries!” The artist chirped, merely happy she had been able to help. “Now, you still haven’t answered my question.”

Maven huffed. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just had a really bad day, you know?”

“Really? You look pretty worn down.”

“Well, try having to deal with thirty kids and tell me how you’ll feel later.” She tightened the jacket around herself, squinting at the memory.

“Not fond of kids?”

“Most of them are all right. But if you ask me if the Queen Of England is made up or not in the middle of a room filled with books, I won’t be looking forward to our next meeting.”

Johanna laughed. “Maven, they were children!”

“Okay, fine, but couldn’t they at least try to stay quiet and not make a mess?!” Maven was aware she probably sounded like a grumpy cat lady, but there weren’t many people she could talk to about her feelings and Johanna didn’t look like she was about to judge her for her annoyance with misbehaving kids.

“You’ve got a point there. But that’s something that parents should teach their children. It isn’t their fault.” Johanna opened the sketchbook that had been lying on her lap, closed since the rain had began, and continued to add details to a drawing she was working on. “My Hilda, for instance, may be a bit… impulsive. But she is very well behaved.”

The name jogged a memory. Wasn’t that the one who went looking for information on the Marra? “You mean the blue haired girl? She’s yours?”

Johanna looked up from her drawing. “Oh, so you’ve met her.”

“Yes, she’s quite an intriguing one. You should be proud. There are already too many boring people in the world.” Maven could clearly recall the wonder she has seen on that girl’s eyes. It was something hard to find these days, the magic of someone who wasn’t afraid to not be ordinary. And now the librarian could see that Hilda had had an excellent example to grow up to when it came to uniqueness.

“Anyway. What are you drawing?”

Johanna’s hair fell over her face and covered her smile. It wasn’t often someone other than her daughter was interested in her art. “Just some flowers I found here in the park.”

Maven leaned her head towards the sketchbook. She had to admit, the woman had talent. When Maven had tried to learn how to draw, when she was barely a teen, she’d always felt like nature was the hardest thing to capture on paper. It was just way too perfect and magical and detailed to draw, but she’d be damned if she said Johanna hadn’t made a very good job of it.

The thought made her remember something.

“Hey, how did that interview go?” 

Johanna sighed. She could clearly hear in Maven’s voice that the answer actually _mattered_ to her, and while she was flattered, she didn’t want to disappoint the woman that way.

“Not very well. I didn’t make a good first impression by showing up late, and it seems there were other, more prepared people competing for the job, so-“ she shook her shoulders “I’m still in the same place.”

“Oh.” Maven breathed softly, her eyebrows drawing closer in sadness. It was clear that Johanna didn’t like the state her life was at at the moment, and she didn’t like seeing the other woman like that. “I’m sorry.”

Johanna shot her a sympathetic smile. “It’s okay. There’ll be other chances. I’m sure of it.”

“Right.”, Maven nodded.

In that moment, a thunder sounded in the distance.

“Shoot. Looks like it will start raining again” Johanna turned her head to Maven. “Where do you live?”

The librarian frowned at the unexpected question. “Near the cemetery. Why?”

Shaking her head, the artist closed her sketchbook and got up. “That’s too far. You probably won’t be able to get there before the rain comes back. My house is much closer. Why don’t you stay with me until the weather gets better?”

Maven blinked. She wasn’t invited to people’s houses often, especially not to the houses of people with whom she’d only talked twice. But she supposed paying Johanna a visit wouldn’t hurt in the least. She took the hand the artist had offered her and gathered her wet clothes from the bench, being careful so as not to wet Johanna’s jacket, and got up to her feet.

“Thank you so much for your kindness.”

Johanna blushed at the genuine stare the woman was giving her. “Think nothing of it.”

_#_#_#_#_

“Hilda, I’m home!” Johanna shouted as soon as she opened the door to her apartment, Maven being a bit behind her and leaving her cape and cardigan at the top of the stairs, not wanting to wet the inside of the house.

When no reply came, Johanna turned to her. “She must still be at Frida’s. She should be back for dinner, though.” 

Johanna gestured for the librarian to come in. Immediately, a white deerfox came to sniff at her feet. “That’s Twig.” She explained, “he’s my daughter’s. Just tell him if you want him to stay away.”

“That won’t be necessary” the librarian crouched down and petted the animal’s head, earning a soft sound of approval in response. “You don’t see many deerfoxes around town. Did you bring him when you moved?.”

Johanna nodded.

“He’s lovely. Do you have any other pets?”

Avoiding the question, Johanna snapped her fingers. “I have an idea! Why don’t I make us hot chocolate to take the chill out of our bones?”

Maven shrugged. “I’d like that.” She was beginning to think that she’d take any possible excuse to spend time near this woman.

“You’re welcome! Make yourself at home, it shouldn’t take long.”

With that she dashed out to the kitchen and left Maven to look around the house. The first thing the librarian noticed was Johanna’s drawing table. She didn’t touch anything for fear of taking her projects out of their order, but that didn’t stop her from admiring Johanna’s talent from afar. It really looked like she put her soul in every drawing.

She moved on to the nearest window, watching the rain fall outside. Johanna had been right. When they had been at the door of her building, the rain had come back full force. It was dark outside so she couldn’t see how heavy the clouds were; the apartment was too bright and there was very little light outside, the result being that Maven could only see her own reflection.

After a minute or two, though, Maven noticed a sound other than the rain falling against the window and the clatter of kitchen utensils. It was very faint, like something being scratched. Like someone was… writing?

Maven pushed the curtain even further back, revealing a small creature sitting on the windowsill, looking at her with wide eyes at having been caught.

“An elf? Does Johanna know you are in her house?” Maven whispered, not sure of the answer.

“Aha! You can see me! I knew you were a witch!” The small being raised his even smaller pencil in a gesture of success, though he didn’t have any judgement in his voice, just the happiness of someone who had their theory confirmed.

“Don’t say that! People aren’t supposed to know!” Of course the elf had figured it out. He had never seen her, so he knew she hadn’t signed the paperwork, and well, what was the one kind of human who could see elves naturally? Still, she didn’t want Johanna to find out. Not yet, at least.

“Oops, sorry!” The creature covered his mouth with his hands. “Answering your question, Mum does know I live here! Hilda and I had her sign all the necessary paperwork!”

“Okay, then.” This was a most curious situation. She couldn’t say she wasn’t intrigued as to why Johanna had an elf in her home.

Maven went back to watching the droplets of rain on the window and the elf continued scribbling notes, and they were both still at it when the scent of chocolate in the living room became stronger than before.

They both looked up when the clicking sound of Johanna’s feet on the wood floor came close to them. “There you are!” She smiled and handed her a steaming black cup, holding a red one on her other hand. “Hope you like it.”

“Thank you.” She took a deep breath to fill her lungs with the delicious smell, and then blew on the liquid even though she knew it wouldn’t make much of a difference to its temperature.

Johanna was about to bring her own cup to her lips when a high pitched voice startled her. “That’s smelling really good, Mum! What did you make?”

“Oh, Alfur. I didn’t see you there.” Johanna’s eyes widened as she found the elf just beside where Maven was leaning against the windowsill, and her voice wavered. What must Maven be thinking? That she had an invisible child somewhere? That there was a spirit in her house? How was she supposed to explain this? This was really not the type of impression she wanted to make on the librarian.

Noticing Johanna’s distress, which was clearly written on her face, Maven decided to put the woman out of her misery. “It’s hot cocoa. If there’s cutlery your size here I could give you a few drops of mine.” She said as she looked at the elf.

“Oh, thank you, Miss! Hilda carved me a bowl from a piece of wood she found, it must be somewhere in her room. I’ll be back in a second!” Saying that, the small creature jumped to the ground and ran as fast as his tiny legs could take him to the corridor on Maven’s right.

“You can see him?” Johanna asked wide-eyed and wide-mouthed. Maven thought that the shocked look looked quite adorable on her. 

“I’m a librarian” she answered with a shrug. “That means I know a lot of things. I found out about elves years ago, and of course, I searched for one of them to sign the paperwork.”

That was a lie, but Johanna really didn’t need to know the truth for now. “Oh!” The artist exclaimed as she rubbed her arm, seeming relieved and nervous at the same time. “That’s good. I was afraid you were going to think I was a lunatic.”

One of the librarian’s eyebrows shot up. “Being a lunatic wouldn’t be what would help you to get rid of me, Johanna.”

She blushed prettily and looked at the ground. “Why don’t we watch a movie while we wait for the rain to pass? There must be something good on at the moment.”

“Sounds good.”

Johanna led her guest to the sofa, where they both sat down. They weren’t close enough for their legs to be touching, but they weren’t as far apart as one would expect from two people who were practically strangers, either.

The remote control was in Johanna’s hand, and the glow from the TV had them both squinting for a second before their eyes adjusted themselves. Just as she began searching through the channels, Maven felt her leggings being tugged at by something. Looking down, she saw the elf again.

“Miss?” He said as he lifted his little bowl is askance. Maven chuckled. She had to admit, the being was kind of adorable. 

“There you go, little guy.” She lowered her cup down to his level, and he dipped his bowl in it with a smile.

“Thank you so much!” He said and then walked away to the same room he had just come from.

Maven sat back and watched her host’s face, noticing it was adorned by a slight frown. “Is everything okay?”

Her face opened up and she turned her gaze to the librarian. “Yeah! It’s just I hadn’t realized how close we are to Christmas yet. I’ve already skipped like, three holiday movies.” The corners of her mouth quirked up. “Hilda will probably want to put up decoration soon.”

Still scrolling through the channels, she asked. “Do you celebrate Christmas, Maven?”

Maven shrugged. “Yule, actually. But both holidays have similar spirits so I don’t feel out of place amidst all the trees and ribbons and lights.”

“Yeah, I heard once that most Christmas traditions come from Yuletide. Oh, this movie is good!”

Maven looked at the screen and lifted her eyebrows. “Parent Trap? Really?”

“We can look for another one, if you want to.”

“No, no, it’s fine. I just didn’t think you were a children’s movie lover. Though I should have thought, you do look the sort.”

Johanna crossed her arms. “Is that a compliment?”

“Maybe.” Maven answered with a playful smile tugging at her lips. She found that trate quite cute, actually, even though she was more of a mystery movie person herself.

They fell into comfortable silence, just enjoying the movie. That is, they were enjoying the movie, until Maven felt something weight her left shoulder down and realized with a start that it was Johanna’s head. Her heart began beating in a wild rhythm as the scent of cherry and apples hit Maven’s senses for the second time that evening. Luckily, she realized that the woman had simply fallen asleep and accidentally leaned into her before she could have a heart attack.

Relaxing once more, she tried to turn her focus back to the television to no avail. She was very tempted to put a stray curl of Johanna’s hair that had fallen over her face back behind her ear, but she knew that if the woman woke up she’d probably think Maven was creepy, so she twisted her hand on her black skirt to hold herself back.

Not half an hour later, when the librarian had already finished her cocoa and placed her mug on the coffee table, Johanna woke up with a start as she heard her phone ring. Slightly disoriented, she looked around herself in confusion before she remembered what she had been doing before falling asleep, and realizing who it was that she had been using as a pillow.

“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry!” She jumped away from the librarian and covered her mouth with her hands, chuckling a bit behind them. “I, uh, it wasn’t intentional.”

“It’s okay.” Maven waved it off. In fact it would be _more_ okay if it _had_ been intentional, but she wasn’t about to say that.

The woman excused herself to pick up the call and turned to Maven as soon as she was finished, looking slightly downcast. “It was the mother of my daughter’s friend. She just wanted to say that now that the rain is gone, Hilda’s on her way back.”

Both of their gazes turned to the window, and surely enough, there were no new drops of water joining the others on the glass. Maven realized that she had probably overstayed her welcome.

“Oh, I’ll go home, then.” She said as she got up and straightened her skirt.

“Y-you don’t have to. If you don’t want to, I mean.” Johanna said a little nervously.

“I appreciate the hospitality, but I probably should get going.” The librarian looked down at herself and realized she was still wearing Johanna’s jacket. “I should probably give you this back, too.”

“No need to!” Johanna realized she’d said it way too quickly when Maven looked at her with a curious expression. “You can give it back to me some other day. It’s cold outside and your other clothes probably aren’t dry yet. Besides, it looks better on you anyway.”

It was Maven’s time to blush. She looked at the ground, making her short hair fall over her face, and whispered “I find that hard to believe”. But Johanna didn’t listen (or at least didn’t acknowledge it) and headed straight for the door, the librarian following her closely. The woman opened the door for her guest and smiled.

“It was very nice having you here, Maven. I hope we can spend more time together in the future.”

Crouched down and gathering her humid clothes from the floor, Maven smiled at Johanna. “Likewise. If you ever want to talk to me, you know where to go.”

Johanna lifted an eyebrow. “Amongst the kids asking you whether or not the Queen of England is real?”

Maven rolled her eyes. “Unfortunately.”

They both giggled and said their goodbyes once more before Maven began going down the stairs. She would never know, but Johanna only closed the door once her raven strands were completely out of sight.

And Johanna would never know, but that night the black leather jacket was hanged on Maven’s bed frame, where she could catch whiffs of apple perfume while she slept.

What she would know, though, is that unless explicitly asked, Maven wasn’t planning on giving said jacket back. Johanna couldn’t say she could bring herself to care.

**Author's Note:**

> Please tell me if you’ve enjoyed the fic, it means a lot to me!


End file.
